Save the holy cow

November 01, 2014 03:31 pm | Updated November 07, 2014 07:01 pm IST

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It resembles a birthday party from the outside. Colourful balloons hang from printed cloth that is bunched together at the ends and the fabric that lines the two sides of the entrance to this East Delhi gaushala (cow shelter) flaps in the mid-morning breeze. Inside, cows tussle for space and for a taste of extraordinarily large spinach leaves.

For a few hours now, some of the 100-odd cows that are kept here have had to fight for space since the largish earthen pit that is splattered with cow dung at the heart of the gaushala has been covered with a red carpet over which chairs are placed in neat rows. Men wearing saffron topis sit on these chairs attempting to hold on to their young children who would rather be poking the cows with sticks.

Preparations have been made by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Govansh Vikas Prakosht (Cow Development Cell) to mark ‘Gopashtami’, an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar in which cows are worshipped and fed by devotees, who think themselves fortunate to visit such a shelter. A stage has been erected from where local BJP leaders, legislators and Members of Parliament can impart the message of cow protection that they say is keeping with the BJP’s tenets.

A loudspeaker transmits the voice of Sarvendra Misra, the convenor of the Cell, the activities of which have shot to prominence ever since the BJP has come to power. “Actually it is only now that it has gained momentum” says one of his colleagues. Mr. Misra hollers that cow slaughter will be but a distant reality as soon as the party comes to power in Delhi. A proactive group of youngsters, who are referred to with multiple-names - ‘Yuva Fauj’, ‘Gau Sena’ or ‘Sena Gau Bhakt’ - are already ensuring that cow slaughter is kept under check, says the Cell’s media in-charge Preeti Sharma.

“Patrolling takes place every night by these groups of young men in Delhi’s borders. Sometimes they are roughed up and are harmed but they ensure that the cows are taken safely to a gaushala and the trucks to a police station to register an FIR,” she says. “We even have a Whatsapp group through which team members coordinate. So as soon as there is news that cows are being taken to a slaughterhouse, the news spreads and the youth brigade assemble in the spot,” she adds.

Behind Ms. Sharma, a devotee empties a plastic cover filled with vegetables in front of a cow, discards it at her feet, and then brings her hands together to pray to the cow. Later, less than 50 metres from this spot the BJP’s North East Delhi Member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari will insist on picking up gobar (cow dung) instead of merely wielding a broom for the cleanliness drive that is scheduled.

Last year, ‘Gopashtami’ celebrations took place in the Delhi BJP’s headquarter at Pandit Pant Marg. This year, the Cell’s members thought it fit to hold celebrations inside a gaushala midst cows rather than discuss cows from within an air-conditioned room. Speakers take to the stage to exchange words on the health benefits of consuming cow’s urine and urge residents of Delhi to adopt cows just as they have adopted dogs and cats.

As the chief guests arrive including Mr. Tiwari, mementos of what appears to be a plastic cow with her calf are exchanged. Mr. Misra, specifically invites his women colleagues to be present on stage so they don’t later complain that they were left out. “People associate cows only with the Hindu religion but everyone drinks the milk that cow’s produce,” says Mr. Tiwari, to young men who are recording the famous Bhojpuri singer’s speech on their smart phones. “If there is anything that can unite this country, then that is gaumata ”. He bursts into song soon enough in praise of cows but only after requesting the sound guy to reduce the ‘echo’ factor on the microphone.

From the audience, Savitri Malik from the Delhi BJP’s women’s wing, whispers that Mr. Tiwari is a “good man” and every now and then attempts to unsuccessfully finish his punch lines. “I have heard Atalji’s words,” she says, presumably in reference to the former Prime Minister’s words on protection of cows. “I am a woman and a daughter-in-law and I have seen how badly cows are treated. I feel like such a time has arrived where only the BJP and Modiji can save the cows. And, I too want to be part of the group of women to help protect these animals”.

In Savithri’s hand is a newspaper article in Hindi and the accompanying photograph is that of young men surrounding a truck full of cows in what looks like a highway.

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